Isaiah

The book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 42, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 42 New English Translation

The LORD Commissions His Special Servant

   1 "Here is my servant whom I support, my chosen one in whom I take pleasure. I have placed my spirit on him; he will make just decrees for the nations.
   2 He will not cry out or shout; he will not publicize himself in the streets.
   3 A crushed reed he will not break, a dim wick he will not extinguish; he will faithfully make just decrees.
   4 He will not grow dim or be crushed before establishing justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait in anticipation for his decrees."
   5 This is what the true God, the LORD, says - the one who created the sky and stretched it out, the one who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it, the one who gives breath to the people on it, and life to those who live on it:
   6 "I, the LORD, officially commission you; I take hold of your hand. I protect you and make you a covenant mediator for people, and a light to the nations,
   7 to open blind eyes, to release prisoners from dungeons, those who live in darkness from prisons.

The LORD Intervenes

   8 I am the LORD! That is my name! I will not share my glory with anyone else, or the praise due me with idols.
   9 Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; now I announce new events. Before they begin to occur, I reveal them to you."
   10 Sing to the LORD a brand new song! Praise him from the horizon of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and everything that lives in it, you coastlands and those who live there!
   11 Let the desert and its cities shout out, the towns where the nomads of Kedar live! Let the residents of Sela shout joyfully; let them shout loudly from the mountaintops.
   12 Let them give the LORD the honor he deserves; let them praise his deeds in the coastlands.
   13 The LORD emerges like a hero, like a warrior he inspires himself for battle; he shouts, yes, he yells, he shows his enemies his power.
   14 "I have been inactive for a long time; I kept quiet and held back. Like a woman in labor I groan; I pant and gasp.
   15 I will make the trees on the mountains and hills wither up; I will dry up all their vegetation. I will turn streams into islands, and dry up pools of water.
   16 I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. I will turn the darkness in front of them into light, and level out the rough ground. This is what I will do for them. I will not abandon them.
   17 Those who trust in idols will turn back and be utterly humiliated, those who say to metal images, 'You are our gods.'"

The LORD Reasons with His People

   18 "Listen, you deaf ones! Take notice, you blind ones!
   19 My servant is truly blind, my messenger is truly deaf. My covenant partner, the servant of the LORD, is truly blind.
   20 You see many things, but don't comprehend; their ears are open, but do not hear."
   21 The LORD wanted to exhibit his justice by magnifying his law and displaying it.
   22 But these people are looted and plundered; all of them are trapped in pits and held captive in prisons. They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them; they were carried away as plunder, and no one says,"Bring that back!"
   23 Who among you will pay attention to this? Who will listen attentively in the future?
   24 Who handed Jacob over to the robber? Who handed Israel over to the looters? Was it not the LORD, against whom we sinned? They refused to follow his commands; they disobeyed his law.
   25 So he poured out his fierce anger on them, along with the devastation of war. Its flames encircled them, but they did not realize it; it burned against them, but they did notice.

King James Version

   1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
   2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
   3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
   4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
   5 ¶ Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
   6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
   7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
   8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
   9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
   10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
   11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
   12 Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.
   13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.
   14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.
   15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.
   16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
   17 ¶ They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.
   18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
   19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD'S servant?
   20 Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.
   21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.
   22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
   23 Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come?
   24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.
   25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.